Santa Clara Minimum Wage 2026 ($18.70) & Worker Rights

The Santa Clara minimum wage is $18.70 an hour in 2026, effective January 1, 2026. It applies to every hour you work inside the City of Santa Clara, as long as you work there at least two hours a week for a covered employer. That is $1.80 an hour more than California’s $16.90 minimum wage. This guide covers the City of Santa Clara, not the rest of Santa Clara County.

The gap matters. A full-time worker paid the state rate instead of the city rate is short about $72 a week, or more than $3,700 over a year, before penalties and interest. To compare Santa Clara with San Jose, Sunnyvale and other nearby cities, see our California minimum wage by city guide.

Santa Clara also has worker retention and recall laws that protect janitors, security guards, food service workers and hotel staff when contracts or ownership change. Below we cover the minimum wage rules, those job protections, which state laws (like paid sick leave) still apply, and how to report a violation.

Santa Clara minimum wage 2026: $18.70 an hour

The City Council approved the plan for Santa Clara’s local minimum wage on August 22, 2017. The rules are in Santa Clara City Code Chapter 3.20. Since January 1, 2020, the rate has been adjusted every January 1 for inflation, using the Bay Area Consumer Price Index for urban wage earners (measured each August). Any yearly increase is capped at 5%, and if the index does not rise, the rate stays the same.

Period	Santa Clara rate	California rate
2025	$18.20	$16.50
Starting Jan. 1, 2026	$18.70	$16.90
Starting Jan. 1, 2027	Set by the City (see below)	$17.40

There is no separate small-business rate. The City says workers are covered regardless of immigration status, and that workers who do not live in Santa Clara are covered for the hours they work in the city.

By the numbers$18.70

Who is covered by the Santa Clara minimum wage

You are covered if you perform at least two hours of work in a calendar week for a covered employer and you are entitled to the minimum wage under California law. A covered employer is one that maintains a place of business in Santa Clara or does enough work in the city to be subject to its business tax, including employers who control your pay or hours through a temp or staffing agency.

• Tips: discretionary tips cannot be counted toward the minimum wage. The code does allow commissions or guaranteed gratuities to count in limited situations, if they are paid with your other wages and the total meets the minimum for each pay period.
• Meals and housing: an employer can credit meals or housing only to the extent California law allows, and only with your prior voluntary agreement.
• Government work: government agencies are exempt for work related to their governmental functions.
• Union contracts: a bona fide collective bargaining agreement can waive the ordinance only if it says so in clear and unambiguous terms.

Employers must post the City’s official notice in English, Spanish and Chinese, give each new hire the employer’s name, address and phone number in writing, and keep payroll records for four years. If records are missing, your account of what you were paid is presumed accurate unless the employer proves otherwise by clear and convincing evidence.

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What happens to the Santa Clara minimum wage in 2027

The code requires the City to announce each new rate by October 1, and the City says the calculation is typically available in mid-September once the inflation figures are released. When we checked the City’s minimum wage page in early October 2026, it had not yet posted the 2027 rate, so check the City’s page for the official figure.

California’s minimum wage rises to $17.40 on January 1, 2027. Because Santa Clara’s rate cannot go down, it will stay above the state rate, and the higher city rate continues to apply to work in the city.

Worker retention for janitors, guards and food service workers

Santa Clara’s Food and Building Service Worker Retention ordinance (City Code Chapter 9.60) protects workers when a business switches contractors. It covers building services such as janitorial and security work and food services at business facilities in the city and at stadiums, concert halls and convention venues with capacity for at least 8,000 people.

• At least 15 days before ending a contract, the outgoing contractor must give the new contractor a list of the workers employed at the site.
• The new contractor must keep those workers for a 90-day transition period and may not substantially change their shifts or work locations during that time.
• Workers generally qualify if they worked at least eight hours a week at the site during the 90 days before the change.

Hotel workers get similar protection when a hotel is sold (City Code Chapter 9.65). The new owner must hire from a preferential list of the prior employer’s hotel workers for six months after reopening, make written offers that stay open at least ten business days, keep retained workers for at least 90 days, and lay off by seniority within each job category if it needs fewer staff. Workers can sue for reinstatement, back or front pay, and attorney fees.

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Recall rights for hotel, event venue and contract workers

Santa Clara also adopted a right-of-recall law in 2020 (City Code Chapter 9.70). It applies to hotels with 50 or more guest rooms, to businesses covered by the contractor retention ordinance above, and to operators of related concessions, restaurants, bars, retail stores, parking and similar services.

• It protects workers who worked at least eight hours a week in the city, had at least six months of service, and were laid off on or after March 17, 2020 for economic, nondisciplinary reasons.
• Employers must offer open positions in writing (by mail, email and text) to qualified laid-off workers in order of seniority, and give each worker at least five business days to accept.
• If an employer passes over a laid-off worker for lack of qualifications, it must explain in writing within 30 days.

Workers can sue in Superior Court for reinstatement and back pay. If you lost a job in a recent layoff, see the Santa Clara layoffs page and our Santa Clara County layoffs tracker.

By the numbers90 days

Statewide sector wages, sick leave and scheduling

Some Santa Clara workers are owed more than $18.70 under state law. Most workers at limited-service restaurants in national chains with more than 60 establishments must be paid at least $20.00 an hour, and covered health care workers earn between $19.28 and $25.00 an hour as of July 1, 2026 under SB 525, depending on the facility. When more than one rule applies, you get the highest rate.

Santa Clara does not have its own paid sick leave or predictive scheduling (fair workweek) law, so California law applies. Under Labor Code 246 you earn at least one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked and may use at least 40 hours or five days a year. See our guide to California paid sick leave rights.

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How to report a minimum wage violation in Santa Clara

1. Gather your records. Pay stubs, schedules and your own notes of hours worked. Our wage and hour calculator can help you estimate what you are owed.
2. Contact the enforcement office. Santa Clara contracts with the City of San Jose’s Office of Equality Assurance to enforce its minimum wage: (408) 535-8430, mywage@sanjoseca.gov, or 200 East Santa Clara Street, 5th Floor, San Jose. The City says services are free and confidential. General questions can go to minimumwage@santaclaraca.gov.
3. File a state claim if needed. The California Labor Commissioner’s San Jose office is at 224 Airport Parkway, Suite 300, (408) 277-1266. Discrimination complaints go to the Civil Rights Department, generally within three years.
4. Consider a lawsuit. Under the ordinance, workers can sue for back wages, interest, a civil penalty of $50 per day for each day the violation continued, reinstatement and attorney fees, without filing with the City first.

Wage claims under California law generally must be filed within three years (four in some cases). Retaliation is illegal, and adverse action within 90 days of a complaint is presumed to be retaliation unless the employer proves otherwise.

💡 Example: Lena works 25 hours a week at a Santa Clara retail store and is paid $16.90, the state minimum. Santa Clara required $18.70 in 2026, so she is short $1.80 an hour: $45.00 a week ($1.80 × 25), or $720.00 over 16 weeks, before interest and penalties. (Hypothetical.)

Unpaid minimum wage often comes with other wage and hour violations, such as unpaid overtime or missed breaks. We represent workers throughout California, including Santa Clara; our closest office is in Fresno.

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Frequently asked questions

What is the minimum wage in Santa Clara in 2026?

$18.70 an hour, effective January 1, 2026, for work inside the City of Santa Clara. It was $18.20 in 2025.

Is the Santa Clara city minimum wage the same as Santa Clara County?

No. The $18.70 rate applies only inside the City of Santa Clara. Other cities in the county, such as San Jose, Sunnyvale and Mountain View, set their own rates, and places without a local ordinance follow the state rate.

Can my employer count my tips toward the Santa Clara minimum wage?

No. Discretionary tips cannot be counted. Only commissions or guaranteed gratuities paid with your wages can count, and only in limited circumstances.

Who enforces the Santa Clara minimum wage?

The City of Santa Clara contracts with the City of San Jose’s Office of Equality Assurance, which you can reach at (408) 535-8430 or mywage@sanjoseca.gov.

Does a new hotel owner have to keep the old staff?

Generally yes. Under City Code Chapter 9.65, a new owner must hire from the prior workers’ list and keep retained workers for at least 90 days, discharging them only for cause during that period.

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